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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Whoohoooo! Another Lunch has had a makeover! Bye-bye pieced together hodge-podge blog, helllloooo cutie-patootie-pie blog!

This blog redesign has been in progress for quite some time! It all started when I asked a beautiful friend of mine, Mariah DeMarco (who just so happens to be a famous illustrator) if she'd be willing to make me an avatar. She not only replied with an enthusiastic "I'd be happy to!", but upped the ante by saying, "and would you like a new header, too?". Would I ever! Little did I know that an avatar and header would blossom into a whole new look from head (cutest header ever!) to toe (check out the darling footer)!

And let me be clear here, when I call Mariah a "friend", that's not bloggy talk for "someone I've exchanged cordial emails with and occasionally tweet to", oh no. When I say "friend" I mean we went to high school together, rode the same bus, borrowed each other's clothes, crushed on the same boys (she always got 'em, I'm not kidding about her being beautiful!). When I say friend I'm talking about someone I truly care for, respect, and admire. Mariah has always been an artist, and to see how she's followed her dreams and achieved success in doing so fills me with so much joy!

All the sweet artwork you see here, every single pixel, is from the hand and imagination of Mariah. Incredible isn't it? To be able to create such beauty from thin air? It blows me away. :)

At some point during this process, as Mariah continued to churn out image after image of adorable bento lunchy illustration for me, the realization hit me that I wasn't going to be able to handle the task of implementing the art into my blog by myself. Now, I can hack HTML code with some directions by my side, but I knew I was not going to be able to do Mariah's art any justice. I needed someone who could do more than muddle their way through HTML. I needed someone that could take Mariah's work and put it in place to allow it to shine!

I don't know how I got so lucky to find Shalon. But boy, did I get lucky! You might have seen her name over there in the left column listed as a blog author for awhile. She's been working behind the scenes to get this new look in place! Shalon of Pretty Lovely Design is everything I was looking for in a blog designer. I poured over her portfolio, I visited the sites she designed, and was immediately drawn to her crisp and clean blog style. I knew she'd be the perfect candidate to put Mariah's illustrations into a great blog layout. Shalon took a huge heap of image files and turned them into this. This pretty, lovely, little blog.

Shalon has been wonderful to work with. WONDERFUL! She has been friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and patient... and her skills speak for themselves. I highly recommend contacting her if you have any bloggy projects you'd like designed!

Mariah, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU.
Not only thanks for this blog you've made delightful nor for the support and enthusiasm you've given me since its' inception, but more so, thank you for just being you. You have inspired me over the years more than you will ever know. It is my privilege to know you. Big hugs, dear friend of mine. I completely and utterly adore you. XOXOXO

Sweet dear friend, I'm blushing from head to toe and if I'm honest little tears are sneaking out of the corners of my eyes... It's been such fun getting to interact with you so much over the last months! Oh dear friend, I love you. I miss you terribly and really do hope we will get to meet up on our big trip east next year! I just want to hug you for a good 3 minutes or so right now ^_^ I love you. You are such a talented writer & leader. You always have been and that's something I've always admired about you (one of the many things!) .. and let me be clear here.. your much more beautiful inside and out than I.. and I'd kill for your hair! ;D Oh sweet friend, thank you for everything, your truly a beauty and It's an honor & blessing to have been friends with you all these years, thank you for it all & I look forward to a lifetime of friendship with you! ♥